Neurontin and weight loss

Common Questions and Answers about Neurontin and weight loss

neurontin

When I was on Celexa, I couldn't lose weight to save my life, and essentially, my entire college education revolves around weightlossand health.. Lol.
Neurontin holds a weight gain side effect, but it's nowhere near as bad. I've been on a solid dose of Neurontin while still losing a great deal of weight.. And because I do have success with Neurontin for extended periods of time, I don't want to dump it.

Before I upped this dose, I has very curly shiny ringlets, and now my hair is limp and dull and frizzy and doesn't curl. I know these probably sound petty, but I just feel like I am losing control of my body and it is driving me nuts. Does anyone know if neurontin can really cause these two side effects? I think I'd feel better if I just knew.
Also, would these effects go away if I switched medications?
PLEASE HELP!

Hello and hope you are doing well.
Activia is a probiotic. Lactulose is a synthetic sugar used to treat constipation. it can help regularize bowel movements. Gabapentin prevents pain-related responses. The mechanism by which gabapentin exerts its analgesic action is unknown. Hence your doctor would have prescribed it for the pain.
Hope this helped and do keep us posted.

For me it helped because Neurontin started to cause me bad hair lossand awful fluid retention and thus weight gain and made my whole body heat up like it was being cooked from the inside out.But yes I still loved the way it made me feel.I would mess up constantly and get down on myself but just expect that you will mess up sometimes but dont wallow too long and try to get right back on track.

However, some medications used for symptom relief can cause weight gain, specifically Neurontin (Gabapentin) and Lyrica (Pregabalin). Steroids can have this effect as well.
Many MSers put on weight because fatigue makes them lethargic, so they easily can become couch potatoes. That doesn't sound like you, though, as you get an admirable amount of exercise. I suggest you check with your primary doctor about potential causes of your weight issues.

I was taken off because of weight gain and hair loss. At this time I was put on Neurontin, about 800 mg per day for about 4 mos. During this time I was very, very depressed and then became suidical. I was hospitalized on 12/23/02 for 7 days. The new psy doc increased my Neurontin to 2800 mg/day!!!!! Along w/ that she placed me on Seroquel. I also take Topomax, Kolonopin (which I am slowly stopping), and Prozac. I had a very hard time adjusting to the Neurontin.

The tingling in fingers, the mood swings, the stomach issues, and yes the weightlossand FATIGUE.
I am only on 50 mg, and will not take more. I am surprised that so many people want to use this drug as a weight loss product. This is not a weight loss product, it is a serious drug, with serious side effects that you have to live with for the rest of your life. If I did not have to take it, I would not.

Yes, asking to switch to neurontin from lyrica would be for the co-pay difference,lyrica's co-pay is $50, andneurontin would be $10. I've had no bad effects with lyrica,it has definately helped with my pain level. I do get to keep my present rheumatologist,when my new insurance kicks in,she is the doctor who prescribes the lyrica,but I haven't discussed it with her yet.There is no generic form of lyrica, I wish there was.

Lyrica is so new and dangerous (per my neurologist). I just lost my job, car, driver's license etc because of Lyrica causing narcolepsy symptoms.
I wish I had never heard of it and had stuck with Neurontin.

My side affects were mild loss of recent memory, weight gain and some slight loss of stability while standing at times. Due to the weight gain and memory loss I requested from my neurologist that he ramp me off the does of 2400 mg. I am now on 1800 mg per day of Neurontin and 100 mg Lacmital and am experiencing periodic breakthrough pain. If this persists I will request my M.D. eliminate the Lacmital and put me back on 2400 mg Neurontin per day.

on treatment but I was told to eat to maintain weightand like yourself I realized that if my weightloss continued then I might be pulled from treatment. At one point the weight loss was so significant (close to 40 pounds) that the doc was talking injections of anerbolic steroids and/or testosterone supplementation. Fortunately, my weight leveled off due to a combination of eating more calories and also probably just finding a new "set point" for my altered metabolism on treatment.

I already have a metabolic disorder and cannot gain weight. Its very, very hard for me to lose weight. Anyway, I know it can cause vision problems, can make you high at times, bad headaches, etc. I already have migraines and acctually have not had the headaches yet that almost 90% of people get along with dizziness and weakness. I had bad vision problems and was legally blind w/o contacts or glasses.

Been down the Gaba (Neurontin) road, and I was left with 4 additional lbs of body-weight, and a foggy haze to look through.
Didn't do sh1t for my pain, so now I'm trying Effexor. We'll see how that goes.

But I had such blurred vision I had to stop taking it immediately. Neurontin causes weight gain, hair loss, behavior issues. But it is a little better than Lyrica in my opinion. I've also found getting in the water, a warm pool where I can exercise a few times per week helps alot. You can do a lot in the water with very little pain, lose weight and it helps get that back conditioned again. I recommend trying to avoid any future surgeries. As I said I had 7.

As far as I am aware anticonvulsants of the gabapentoid class (gabapentin and pregabalin, for example) are known to cause weight gain and hair loss in some people. It's listed in their side effect profile. I use clippers with a number 2 comb to disguise the hair loss...

I also have headache's, probably from loss of appetite, and dizzy spells.
I am on four different medications that could be having some effect. Neurontin (600mg) a day, Cymbalta (60mg) a day, Align (1 pill) a day, and Advil (2 pills) a day for chronic pain. I am also a CRPS patient for the past 2 years and can go off of any of my medications.
I had some recent blood work done but they found nothing. I don't know what's going on with me and if you have an suggestions please let me know.

I also tried Neurontinand I was just so content to sit in a chair and stare at the wall 24/7.
I had to get off of it and did. My family was really glad I did:)
It was horrible for me.
There are those that it helps too so do not let the bad reviews scare you.
My Dad has been on it for years and it helps him a great deal.
As you know all medications work differently for different people.

Is there anyone out there that has had this treatment and can share with me the pro's and con's? Also, should I suggest increasing the neurontinand asking for the ritalin prior to going forward with the placement of this internal pump????????? anyone out there that can help?

We all are a bit different and have varying degrees of memory loss. And as holmes pointed out a disturbance in normal thyroid function can also cause memory issues. There are many factors that can play into memory problems.
Mine comes more in the form of I can't remember names, ppl names or names of products, things like that. Trying to remember who sang a song I knew by heart some 15 years ago will set me nuts until I remember it. And sometimes I am able to remember it and sometimes I can't.

If so how many milligrams a day did/do you take and how long does it take for the Neurontin to start working? I'm currently taking about 70mg of hydrocodone/day and I want to stop. I hate being on opiate painkillers for so long. I have a prescription for 100mg of gabapentin to take 3x a day. Does anyone know how much to take for cold turkey opiate withdrawal? And should I let the gabapentin build up in my body before I stop taking the hydro?

I have been taking 200 mg of Seroquel and 1200 mg of Neurontin for years. (I am a 52 year old female). Several weeks ago I begin having scary reactions 1.50 hours after taking the Seroquel. (pounding heart, low blood pressure 60/40, shaking legs, sometimes waking up and gasping for air). I have tried to break the Seroquel in half, but I get the same reactions. Why would this start happening. In the past, I have had to cut back the Seroquel due to weight loss.

Celexa (citalopram) has been reported to cause both weightlossandweight gain, but is less likely than the other agent to cause your weight gain.
You are also taking Synthroid, which may indicate a history of hypothyroidism. An under active thyroid can also cause weight gain. It may be helpful to have a laboratory test done to check your thyroid function.
In choosing a psychiatric medication as part of a treatment strategy a physician consider different factors i.e.

I haven't heard of hair loss as a side effect of Lamictal. My best friend has been on it for years and has not had a problem. I also know others on it including my 13 year old son. Let me tell you, it has been a miracle drug for him. I'm sorry for your loss and I hope that you can find some solutions for the hair loss. Take care.

Hi
Welcome to the MedHelp forum!
First of all try and find the cause for your loss of smell and tatse. It could be concussion, damage to nose, injury to olfactory (related to smell) nerves, olfactory bulb in the brain,or frontal and/or temporal lobes of the brain.
If it is due to concussion or due to damage to nose, then strong perfumes may still be detected. Try and see.
Highly seasoned food with spices, cloves, pepper, vinegar etc may help.

that sounds like Neurontin. For some reason, most people gain weightand get sleepy, but like your 13 year old, i lost tons of weight (not in a good way) and had those same thought issues. Looping thoughts -- dark thoughts, etc. Does she have a small fever a lot? Or fast heart? Because i found that the fever etc., will get the doctor to listen to you, while the other stuff they might rather blame on something else (call it psychological or something). Maybe keep monitoring her body temp ..

2005, at 25mg for three days then increased to 50mg thereafter, and underwent rapid and severe weight gain as a result. The Zoloft worked and everything was fine except for the weight gain. I tried other medications from Jan.-Mar. 2006, of this year, including Celexa, Luvox, Wellbutrin, and Prozac, and none of them worked and just made me worse off than I already was.

When you're dealing with ACs like Depakote andNeurontin, the weight gain can be attributed to the increase in appetite and not necessarily metabolic issue.
I had a shrink that wouldn't give me Neurontin, even though it's a GREAT mood stabilizer for me because he felt the weight gain was going to be an issue. I am on a good size dose of it now and have actually lost 60lbs. It does boost my appetite, but I just adhere to the 'put the fork down' diet.

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